Days of the Marauders
by TwistedThorn
Summary: Sirius, Remus, James, Peter, Lily, Raven, Snape their years at Hogwarts. I warn you: OOTP & HBP SPOILERS
1. Default Chapter

**Days of the Marauders**

DISCLAIMER: Yeah, I know…._ I own nothing_ . . . Fanfiction. I own nothing. None of the characters, places, creatures, inanimate objects - nothing.

AUTHOR'S NOTE:

(Brace yourself, now, this'll take a while….)

Something I made rather controversial for myself - not intentionally, of course, but I just wanted it to be a bit more believable. Raven Sinistra: She-Raven-I made up, but Sinistra, I didn't. I doubt many HP fans'll pick this up, but she IS the same Sinistra as the Professor Sinistra of the books, who teaches Astronomy. Alrightie? I just happened to have a good mental image of her while reading the books, and decided to come up with a name and personality to go with it.

Peter Pettigrew isn't an evil Slytherin, just a Gryffindor boy, who is surprisingly weak, considering he got into that house. I hate to see him as a perfectly evil villain. It just can't be. He's simply a weak coward.

Remus - I can't stand to think he was ever a shy, quiet little bookworm. Yes, he is very intelligent, and does read quite a lot, but not obsessively, as some people imagine. Remus is more a _clever_, thanintellectual to me, very sweet, kind, gentle, calm, and meditative. I've read so many fanfics, explaining how tragic Remus's life was, and all these horrible things happen to him…I find it heartbreaking, because he's such a good person, in general. I mean, yeah, he's been through a lot, but he keeps going, and is able to do it with a smile on his face. Point of this rambling, Remus is a wonderful guy, and I like to imagine him a really sweet kid, so I've given him a lover (:

I intended this to be strictly a Remus/Raven romance fic, but in the end, found I liked it better with my screwy way of switching POVs, and including them of both Gryffindor and Ravenclaw. 

Another thing that confuses people is the fact that it's stated that Lucius Malfoy is 41 in the Order of the Phoenix, and Snape and the Marauders are 38. Meaning, during their school days, they (Malfoy and the Marauders) were three years apart. Some people see Malfoy as someone the Marauders constantly encountered, but I see it as very unlikely, unless they were in the same house or played Quidditch against each other. ONE bad guy for the Marauders! ONE!

When I say the Marauders, d'you know whom I'm talking about? I'm so lazy…I don't mean just Remus, Peter, Sirius, and James, but also, I'm including Raven and Lily…. I ought to say what year their in…but then, this fic covers all of them, so that'd sound screwed up…. I also see Bellatrix, Narcissa, Andromeda, Lucius, Crabbe, and Goyle, all in the same year, and they're all in Slytherin (with the exception of Andromeda, of course, who's a Gryffindor.)

As far as looks go, I've kept straight to the books. Though I've given Sirius handsome grey eyes, and Remus, brownish-orange.

Lily, I don't see as the kind of extremely popular girl at school. In this fic, she's got popularity _enough_, but she's really rather kept to herself, having only a couple of really good, close friends, Raven, being her best. Though Lily only snaps a couple of times at James, she's got a knack for making herself heard, which is good for when she becomes a prefect.

Okee! Enough of this nonsense! _ONWARD!!_


	2. Chapter ONE

**CHAPITRE ONE:**

            "Mum," Raven called to her dozing mother. "Mum, Lily's coming over. She and I are going out to buy our school things today with dad, all right?"

            Raven Sinistra and her mum were in the living room of her stepfather's glorious Yorkshire manor. Raven's mother, dozing restlessly on one of the many sofas of the Tohpps Manor, gave a disdainful, "Mmmhmmm…." In reply to her daughter's statement.

            Raven sighed, giving up all other attempts to communicate with the only other being in the house, turned and left the room.

            Once up two flights of spiraling staircases and reaching her bedroom, she threw her wardrobe open and grabbed a change of clothes: wide, extremely baggy, olive green twill trousers that buttoned at the hips; and a close-fitting, black muscle tank.

            After dressing, she swung her thick, black hair (A/N: loving this detail…you'll soon hate me for it) back, and slid her fingers through it, pulling it into a tight ponytail, set at the base of her head. She shoved her feet into black, knee-high boots. They were, strangely enough, one of her most prized possessions. The bots were army-like, with massive treds on the soles, and tiny silver hooks all the way up either side of the tongues where the laces clung. Her father had given them to her when she had turned eight, but he'd enchanted them, so they kept growing as she grew, and they'd always fit (A/N: wish mine'd do that….) 

            Raven's dad, Artemis Sinistra, was a wizard, and so being was the reason Raven was only allowed to visit him during holidays and a very few other assorted occasions. Raven's mother, Miriam, was a squib, but refused to believe she had anything to do with the magical world. She lived as a Muggle, brought her daughter up a Muggle, and pretended the magical world really didn't exist. 

            When Artemis broke the news of his being a wizard to his wife, she left him, taking a seven-year-old Raven with her.

            Raven bolted down the spiral staircases, through a few silent corridors, and passing many closed rooms, out onto the wild grass hill upon which, this house stood. She strode to the edge of this low hill, and set her hands on her hips, breathing deeply. The air was unusually cool for August, though it felt very refreshing after so many hours inside that silent, miserable house.

            Her thoughts wandered as she looked out at the lonely green-purple of the hills, which bore an amazing resemblance to her summer-holidays. Lonely. She couldn't wait to talk to Lily again. Lily Evans and she had been best friends since their first day at the Muggle boarding school, but hadn't been able to see each other this summer, due to Lily's relatives visiting her and her family for the best portion of the summer.

              At ease to her mind, Raven wondered what life would be like at Hogwarts. She knew well that her father was a wizard, whatever the hell her mum said to contradict it. Raven sent loads of letters to him, asking loads of questions about magic and spells and things he'd learned and people he'd met…. She couldn't help it. She was most fascinated by it all, and now, she was _finally_ going to take part in it herself - much to the shock and frustration of her mother.

            To cap it all, Lily had gotten an acceptance letter from Hogwarts. So, Raven's father offered to take the two girls to Diagon Alley to grab the supplies they'd need for school.


	3. Chapter TWO, Diagon Alley

CHAPTER TWO: DIAGON ALLEY

Raven walked around the side of the house and into the garden out front to view the drive. Lily would be arriving by car, since her parents were both Muggles, and had little knowledge of magical modes of transportation.

After waiting barely six minutes, Raven saw a silver van approaching from her left. As the car pulled into the drive and came to a stop, a passenger door on Raven's side slid open. A girl with thick, curly, dark-red hair and vivid green eyes jumped out of it, rushed over to Raven, and hugged her.

"Oh, Raven!" she exclaimed, letting go and stepping back. "It's _wonderful_ to see you again! Did you get my last letter? I wasn't sure - you didn't write back."

"Oh, I got it," said Raven. "I just figured I answer when I saw you next, since I knew you were coming." She laughed. Lily was almost bouncing with excitement.

Mrs. Evans rolled down her window; she hadn't left the car.

"Morning, Raven." She called out, waving.

"Morning, Mrs. Evans," came Raven's cheerful reply. "Would you like to come in?"

"Oh, no, dear, thank you, but I've got to run…. You'll be all right then, Lily? When shall I come collect you?" 

"Don't worry about that," Raven said, "We'll take her home this evening."

"All right. Lily, have you got everything? Your money?"

"Of _course_, Mum, I'll see you later," said Lily. "Bye!"

"Bye, girls… be good…" and she pulled away from the drive and out of sight.

Raven showed Lily a bit of the house, tried, but failed to introduce her to her mum, who'd fallen asleep again.

Mr. Sinistra apparated onto the doorstep at noon to take Lily and Raven into Diagon Alley, but seeing as neither of the girls knew how to apparate, they'd have to get there by the floo network, of which Mr. Sinistra had connected the Tohpps Manor earlier that morning.

Once in Diagon Alley, the three of them went into Gringotts Bank to exchange Lily's muggle money into wizard gold, something that utterly amazed Lily. Outside Gringotts, Mr. Sinistra looked up and down the Alley, and then turned to the girls, asking, "Well… where to first?"

"Wands!" chorused Lily and Raven in unison.

"Wands it is, then," replied Mr. Sinistra, laughing a little at their sheer pleasure.

As they entered Ollivander's, they heard a distinct farewell, and saw two figures in front of them. One, a man with dark hair, and the other, a boy - also with dark hair - fingering a wand he'd pulled out of the thin box in his hand. He glanced at Lily and Raven as they entered, but seemed to avert his eyes from their gaze as he left the shop.

"Sinistra! Mr. Artemis Sinistra! How good to see you again," came a voice from behind the counter. Mr. Ollivander hurried over to Mr. Sinistra and shook his hand with both his own.

"Mr. Ollivander, this is my daughter, Raven - " Raven smiled and took Mr. Ollivander's hand  "- and her friend Lily Evans." Lily looked a bit nervous, but pulled a smile and shook Mr. Ollivander's hand as well.

"So you'll both be needing wands, then?" He asked. When they nodded, he clasped his hands together, turned from them, walked over to a series of shelves close at hand, and slid out several long, thin boxes.

He tipped them all onto the chair behind him, seemingly oblivious to the fact that Mr. Sinistra occupied it. Mr. Sinistra, however, didn't seem to mind; he shuffled and straightened the boxes behind Mr. Ollivander's back.

"Now, Miss Sinistra, you try this - " he handed Raven a long, Redwood wand, " - And Miss Evans…." He pulled out a handsome Maple on, handed it to her, and instructed them to wave them round.

So began their wand shopping, culminating in Lily's finding her wand to be a beautiful willow one that was ten and a quarter inches long, and Raven, a twelve inch long ebony wand.

After they purchased their wands, they walked down to Madam Malkins' Robes For All Occasions for their black school robes, then to the Apothecary for potions class ingredients. From there, to Flourish and Blotts for books, then to several more odd shops for parchment, ink, quills, and cauldrons.

The streets were packed with people. Most looked like students buying their school things, dragging along harassed-looking parents.

Round five o'clock that evening, Mr. Sinistra called down a taxi to take Lily back to her parents' house. Lily, who'd never imagined such an eventful day, thanked Mr. Sinistra and Raven very, very much for bringing her along, and climbed into the cab.

"See you at Hogwarts, then!" called Raven, waving, as the taxi pulled into the street.

Lily's waving hand soon disappeared, and Raven turned to her father, who was going to see her into The Leaky Cauldron so she could use the fire to get back home. She put an arm round him.

"Thanks, dad."

A/N: Aaaaahh… so sweet…figured I'd end on that note for now. I'll be writing more ASAP, so…yeah! What d'you think? Please review!!! I THRIVE on feedback!!!!!! 


	4. Chapter THREE, On Hogwarts Express

CHAPTER THREE: THE HOGWARTS EXPRESS

            Just hours till the Hogwarts Express was scheduled to leave, and Raven was shoving her feet into her massive boots once more, hurrying to pick up the rest of her school things.

            She went downstairs and found her mother, who agreed to take her to London and drop her off at King's Cross, but insisted she needed to be back home by eleven o'clock…. which happened to be the same time the train left the station. Raven sighed and left the room to get her trunk and stowe it in the car.

            They arrived at the station with quarter an hour to spare. Raven stood herself between platforms nine and ten with her head slightly tilted to one side. Then, remembering pulled out a wrinkled piece of parchment and examined it.

_            "…And don't forget… platform… divides platforms nine and ten…run straight through…" _She muttered, sliding her finger over a paragraph her father had written on the parchment. She looked up in time to notice a black-haired boy of about her age pushing a trolley just behind her. 

He had an odd, apprehensive look on his face. It seemed an odd look to Raven, because he gave off an air of distinct toughness and mischief. Perhaps it was the small gold loop he had in his ear. Or the black shirt he was wearing with "LOSER" written across the chest, and the sleeves shoved up to his elbows.

            Raven folded the letter and slipped it back into her pocket, watching the boy approach. She'd not noticed he was right behind her until she heard him mutter, "You for Hogwarts too?" in her ear. She gave a little start, but recovered herself, and hissed, "yes," back at him.

            The boy nodded to show he'd gotten her, but continued to look awkwardly at the platforms before him, making Raven smile and lean in towards him once more and say, "forward."

            "Eh?" 

            "You've got to run forward into the barrier between nine and ten, to get through."

            He looked at her, utterly puzzled, but then his face split into a grin. "Right," said he, and ran forward as Raven had suggested, and out of sight, with she close behind.

            They passed straight through and reappeared on a noisy, packed platform. The black-haired boy turned to face her. "Thanks for that one," he said, and held out a hand. "I'm Sirius."

            Raven grinned and shook his hand.

            "I'm Raven. Nice meeting you." And she turned and wheeled her cart round so it was level with Sirius's.

            At first, the pair of them walked down the length of the train, looking for an empty compartment. But about halfway down the Hogwarts Express, a compartment door swung open, and Raven heard her name called.

            "Raven! Over here!" Lily said, waving Raven down.

            "Sirius, come in this one - it's not but half full," said Raven. True, it was only half filled, but it was so with chattering girls. Sirius glanced at them with distaste.

            "Ah… thanks, mate, but I think I'll keep looking," he said carefully to Raven, and continued making his way down the train.

            Lily helped Raven stowe her trunk away, and they settled into the crowded compartment.

Next door, however, it was a different story. Only one person was in this compartment. James Potter, a moderately built eleven-year-old with hazel eyes, jet-black hair that stood up in the back and round glasses, stood with his arm out the window, waving a farewell to his parents.

            "Are you _sure_ you have everything, dear?" The mother was saying. "Now you must be sure to send us an owl once you get there, and - "

            " - And _behave yourself_," said the father sternly.

            "Aaaah, Dad, you're no fun. None at all." Said James with a smile, as the train prepared to leave.


	5. Chapter FOUR: What HAPPENED on the Hogwa...

CHAPTER FOUR: What Happened on the Train 

            "Bye Mum! Bye Dad!"

            As James stepped down from the window, the compartment door slid open and Sirius's head poked in.

            "Mind if I join you?" he asked.

            "Not at all," replied James, who'd been wondering whether he'd be spending the journey to Hogwarts alone or not. "Want a hand?" he added, watching Sirius almost throw his trunk into the compartment.

            "Nah… I've got it… damn thing… been hauling it all over the place today." He dragged it over to a corner, then came over and sat himself opposite James, and swung his legs over the side of his seat. "I'm Sirius Black, by the way," he said carelessly.

            "James Potter," said James. "You a first year?"

            "Yep. Are you?"

            "Course…"

            "So you don't play Quidditch at all, do you?"

            James looked shocked. "Hell yeah, I do!" he exclaimed, his eyes going bright.

            "Awesome!" said Sirius, straightening up. "What position?"

            And they whiled away an hour or so, talking animatedly of Quidditch, all about the different teams and makes of brooms and positions of the players, until they heard something outside.

There was clattering outside their compartment and the sound of loud, crude laughter. Sirius and James looked up towards the compartment door window and caught a glimpse of a couple of boys - one with white-blonde hair, the other with dark - followed by a girl with thick, shining, black hair, whose eyes were heavily lidded. Her eyes swung into their compartment, and back out...then back in again.  
Without warning, the compartment door was torn open, and the heavy-lidded girl was framed in the doorway, her companions gathered round outside in the corridor behind her.  
Her face was pulled into an expression of great amusement, but in a horrible, sour sort of way. She strode inside, staring fixedly at Sirius, who'd noticed her, but was staring just as fixedly out his window.  
"Aaaaahhh, dearest cousin Sirius!" She exclaimed in a sick, overly dramatic babyish voice. She stopped a few feet from him, bent down, hands on her knees as though addressing a four-year-old, and grabbed his cheek with her thumb and forefinger, in what looked like a painful pinch. "So wittle Sirius is finally starting out at the big Magic School?" She cooed at him, still in her disgusting childlike voice.  
"I'm _here_, aren't I?" Sirius spat, jerking his head away from her, still determined not to look at her.  
"Oooooh, Boy, you should know better than to talk to me like that; I just might tell your mummy," she said. Her friends behind her were cackling. Sirius, abandoning all attempts to avoid seeing her, stood up, glaring at her.  
Stepping forward, he turned her round to face the door from which she'd come, and, pressing a hand into her back, pushed her through it, growling, "Well, it's been hell chatting with you again, Bella, and hopefully, _I won't be seeing you around_."   
But the girl called Bella wasn't about to be shoved through a doorway without having the last word.

"Yeah?" She crowed. "Well, you just wait! When your mother finds out about the scum you're hanging around with - " But Sirius had slammed the door shut on her before she could finish her rant.

            Sirius looked livid. He was still scowling as he turned back to sit down again, uttering a very insulting swearword. James had the impression he'd meant it for the girl who was just here.

            "Cousin?" James asked, frowning slightly.

            Sirius nodded, and James decided to elaborate with a bracing, "Ah, don't let it get t'you, then. You can't help family."

            Sirius took a great breath and said, "Yeah… yeah, I s'pose you're right…"

            James thought well to change the subject. During the awkward silence in which James struggled to come up with something to say, they heard several squeals of laughter from next-door's compartment. Sirius and James exchanged looks of utter bewilderment. 

            "What the - " James muttered, but Sirius's trademark grin had flitted across his face. 

"Girls," he said. He ran over to his trunk, kicked it open, grabbed a spellbook, and flicked to the index.

            "Know any good eavesdropping charms?" he asked excitedly.

            "Mate, I don't know any charms,_ period_," laughed James, but he'd understood Sirius's intentions. He got out his own book of basic spells.

            "How about this?" Sirius said, pointing to a paragraph in his book. "What if we shot this to thin out the wall? Worst it'd do is make a hole…" He looked up at James, still grinning.

            "You do the honors?" James said, half laughing at what a compartment full of girls might do if a hole issued out of nowhere in the wall.

            Sirius obliged, and the result _was_ a hole. A good-sized, smoking hole, large enough to fit an arm through.

             "Oh damn," Sirius muttered as a few girls screamed in fright.

            "Reckon we should run for it?" asked James in a hushed voice, but they hardly needed telling, and shot towards the door, out into the corridor outside.

            Out in the corridor, however, the girls seemed to've been able to surmise that two boys had been intending to eavesdrop on them, and they swarmed outside to attempt an ambush upon whoever was responsible.

            Sirius and James ran straight into them, but amazingly got through, and continued racing down the corridor of the train, with the mob of angry chickas behind.

            Though in the end, the two boys were to be seen pinned spectacularly to the ground by a couple of the girls. One of which was Raven, who was demanding an explanation of the pair of them, but the boys were shaking with too much partially suppressed laughter at the reaction to answer.

            A hand closed over Raven's forearm, and pulled her off James. She looked behind her and saw a brown-haired boy step round her to help James to his feet.

            To Raven's left, the girl who'd pinned Sirius, Medea, was getting to her feet standing back, and brushing off her robes. Only when Raven got a good look at Sirius did she realize that was the same boy she'd met on the platform.

            "Sirius!" she exclaimed, laughing.

            "The one and only," said Sirius cheerfully. James was laughing.

            "So you're behind this as well?" Raven remarked. The crowd of students was quickly dispersing, now that the show was over. This left Sirius, James, Raven, Lily, and the light-haired boy who'd pulled Raven off James. 

            "Yep. And this - " continued Sirius, indicating James (who was straightening up, still laughing.)

            " - Is James," finished James. "And thanks, mate, for getting this one off me," he added to the boy beside Raven. Raven chose to ignore James's rather rude reference to her, as she more interested in the boy next to her, whom she'd noticed was glancing at her every now and then.

            Raven thought him quite good-looking, in a kind, natural sort of way, with light brown hair that curled near the end of each lock and fell onto his face and into gentle, brownish-orange eyes. He smiled slightly at James.

            "No problem." But he added swiftly, "you _were_ a bit rough," to Raven, who giggled.

            "All right, all right, my apologies, James," she said, defeated. She turned back to the brown-haired boy. "I'm Raven Sinistra," she said, pressing the tips of her fingers to her breastbone. "And this is Lily Evans," she turned to Lily, who was glaring at James and Sirius.

            The boy's smiled widened.

            "Remus Lupin," he said.


	6. Chapter FIVE: Where everyone was sorted

CHAPTER FIVE: WHERE EVERYONE WAS SORTED 

            Remus then added fervently to James, "I'd start running if I were you."

            "Yeah?" said James, then, looking where Remus had nodded, "Whoa, Evans! We're sorry we blasted the hole in your compartment in an attempt at seeing what you were leaving Sirius and me out of." He still looked inclined to laugh, but screwed up his face so he wouldn't. Lily rolled her eyes.

            "Well, Nice meeting you Remus," she said, though rather stiffly. She turned on her heel to walk back into her compartment with Raven, who shrugged at Sirius, Remus, and James, but left with Lily nonetheless.

            Ten minutes later, changed into their Hogwarts robes, Lily, Raven, and the rest of the girls in their compartment heard an announcement stating they'd be arriving at Hogwarts in tens minutes.

            Raven's stomach gave a jolt of excitement. Lily muttered, "At _last_," but the remainder of the compartment looked either nervous or ill.

            The train pulled into the Hogsmeade station on perfect time, and the older students swarmed out to grab seats on the Thestral-drawn carriages, which'd take them to the school. The first years, however, were led to Hogwarts' front doors by an enormous man (who introduced himself as Hagrid), from across a large blackish lake.

            Raven and Lily were some of the first few to step into a magnificent hall, complete with a remarkable marble staircase, with a torrent of "Ooooh"s from the surrounding students.

            They were led into a rather small chamber off to the side by a stern-looking witch with her black hair drawn into a severely tight bun on the back of her head. She told the first years she was Professor McGonagall, along with informing them what was to happen that evening, and a bit about the school's houses . . . something that'd completely slipped Raven's mind until this point.

            She hardly had time to dwell on this realization, as, soon enough, they were all ushered into the Great Hall. Every eye was upon the first years as they followed Professor McGonagall up towards a three-legged stool, bearing the school sorting hat. Professor McGonagall turned to the first years to explain.

            "Now," said she, "When your name is called, you are to come forward, I shall place the Sorting Hat on you, and it will sort you into the best house for you."

            McGonagall unrolled a large sheaf of parchment, and with calling, "Basil, Armany" began the sorting ceremony.

            After Armany, came, "Black, Sirius," who strode confidently forward, and was sorted into Gryffindor - though the hat took a few moments before deciding.

            After a few more letters down the alphabet, "Evans, Lily!" was called.

            "GRYFFINDOR!" said the hat.

            "Emerson, Samuel!"

            A dark brown-haired, very pale boy made his way forward and allowed the Sorting Hat to slip over his head.

            "RAVENCLAW!" the hat declared after a moment.

            Down the list it went, the crowd of first years slowly thinning.

            Raven watched as "Lupin, Remus!" was called forth, and then sorted into Gryffindor with Lily and Sirius. Raven was beginning to wonder what she'd do if she wasn't sorted into Gryffindor as well. Would she ever see Lily again? McGonagall didn't say whether different houses ever interacted or not . . .  

            "Pettigrew, Peter!" A small, roundish boy with blonde hair was trembling from head to foot as he moved up to be sorted, and waited for round about two minutes until the hat sorted him into Gryffindor. He scurried over to the Gryffindor table and seated himself.

            After Peter, came Sturgis Podmore, who also was sorted into Gryffindor.

            "Porter, Emily!"

            "SLYTHERIN!"

            "Potter, James!" James was immediately sorted into Gryffindor, and he almost ran over to the seat next to Sirius.

            "Sinistra, Raven!" called McGonagall.

            Raven hastened forward and let the brim of the Sorting Hat obscure her vision. It lasted not even a second; she barely had time to think before - 

            "RAVENCLAW!" yelled the hat.

            She could hardly feel her insides. She slipped off the stool and joined the brown-haired Samuel Emerson at the Ravenclaw table. She looked over at the Gryffindors to see Lily waving at her. Raven waved back at her, and shrugged to mime, _"Not much I can do, is there?"  _Lily traced a line on her face with her finger, leading from her eye, straight down her cheek to show she was sorry for Raven. They both laughed at their silent conversation that was going on across the hall.

            As Raven looked up at the continuing sorting, a small, black-haired boy, Severus Snape, had been freshly sorted into Slytherin House. Raven noticed Sirius nudge James and mutter something to him, then beckon to Remus, who leaned in, and said the same to him.

            When the ceremony finally ended, and the headmaster, Professor Dumbledore, had given his start-of-term speech (warning students to stay away from the forbidden forest on the school's grounds, and informed all of the list of forbidden magical objects that resided in the caretaker - Mr. Filch's - office) the dishes before the students were magically filled with food.

            The feast was entirely uneventful to Raven, with the exception of filling her empty stomach. She was eager to talk to Lily.

            The girl who was seated across from Raven, next to Samuel Emerson, was watching Raven wolf down her food with a curious, surprised look on her face.

            "Hungry, are you?" she said, but smiled.

            Raven laughed a little, covering her mouth with her hand, and swallowed her mouthful of potato, before replying.

             "Just wanted to finish quick so I'd be able to visit a friend." She gestured towards the Gryffindor table. The girl nodded and said, "Oh, yes," but continued knowledgably, "but I'm not sure as to whether or not they a lot of moving round the hall - during mealtimes, I mean."

            "Ah . . . " said Raven, discouraged. "Well, then, I ought to take my speed down a bit . . . . what's your name anyway?" she added, feeling inclined to make a new friend.

            "I'm Saige Choudhury," she replied, smiling politely. "And you're Raven, right?" she added.

            "Yep," stuffing her mouth with meat pie.

            "This place is just astounding, isn't it?" Saige continued. "My mum and dad're both Muggles, so I've only recently found out about the magical world." Saige said this and paused before drawing breath to ask, "What about you?"

            "Well," said Raven, setting her goblet onto the table. "Dad's a wizard, and Mum - " she thought for a second, then, "is a Muggle." She felt it safer saying what her mum was closer to.

            "Wow!" said Saige. Apparently, this was a new concept. "That must've been really something to grow up with a real wizard."

            "Not as good as it could've been," replied Raven slowly. "I don't live with my dad anymore."

            "Oh . . . I'm so sorry," Saige said, and she did look like she meant it. "Here, do let's talk about something else. Tell me, which is your friend in Gryffindor?"

            Raven smiled. It never bothered her too much to talk about her family, but she was quite grateful for Saige's respect of the matter.

            "Over there, that girl with the curly red hair."

            Lily looked up at the very moment they'd spotted her, and waved, grinning.

            "Is that her?" asked Saige.

            "Yep. That's Lily Evans." Raven returned Lily's wave. "I've known her most of my life."

            "Oooh," said the other. She paused a moment before adding, "Yeah . . . I've only ever had Muggle friends."

            "Naught wrong with that," said Raven. "Lily didn't know she was a witch - or what one was, really - until her letter came. She's muggle-born as well."

            Saige nodded to this again, and continued with her meal. Raven polished her plate in a couple of minutes and waited patiently with an elbow rested upon the table, lacing her fingers delicately together in her lap.

            When the remnants of dinner vanished out of sight, and the students were sent off to bed, Raven realized that the first years needed to cling to their house prefects so they could find their common rooms. She wouldn't be able to talk to Lily, then . . . 

            "First years Ravenclaws!" called a tall, skinny girl with tan skin. "First years, stay with me!"

            They all did as they were told, and were taken out of the Great Hall and up the marble staircase they'd seen upon entry. Up the stairs, then to their right, they were led to the West Wing of the castle. Up another flight of stairs, down two long corridors and then one more smaller one . . . there. They'd reached two suits of armor, and this was where they stopped.

            "Wine-red," said the prefect who'd been leading them.

            And before her, between the two suits of armor, a long, silken banner - royal blue with a bronze pattern round it enveloping a magnificent bronze eagle - rolled down the wall in front of her. She seized one side of it and pulled it back, revealing a narrow doorway. The prefect stood aside, still holding back the silken curtain, and gestured for the first years to move through it.

            Once they'd passed through, they found themselves in a spacious, comfortable-looking room filled with beautiful, elegant furniture, with a wonderfully built fire that was at it's highest burning point. There were some scattered students sitting round the room, looking wide-awake.

            "First years," the prefect called for attention. "Boys, your dorms are over through that door," she said, pointing. "And ladies, we're up here." She waved toward the doorway behind her.

            Raven, who had every intention of getting to bed so as to make time for reading, was one of the first up to the first year girls' dorm.

            Once inside, Raven cast her eyes round the room and spied her trunk at the foot of the bed closest to her. She walked over to it, clicked to lock open with her toe, grabbed a pair of black pajama pants, a white camisole, and a copy of _The Secret Garden by Frances Hogdson Burnett_. 

_A/N: yeesh . . . what a dull way to end a chapter . . . ANYWAY, next chappie we'll get to see the Gryffindor dorms, and it's occupants, though it might'nt be up for a day or two…or three…I'm at work a good portion of the day, so regular posting is a bit difficult - BUT IT IS COMING! _

_Yeah . . . don't ask about the Secret Garden idea; just the first thing that came into me 'ead . . . plus, I'm listening to the movie's soundtrack (such cute music - there's that word again, Medea!! Arrrgghh!!!) Whoa, sorry, so . . . yeah, stay tuned _


	7. Chapter SIX

CHAPTER SEVEN

          Meanwhile, the Gryffindors'd been taken to their North Tower common room. Girls were being shown the way to their dorms, and boys, the same on the opposite side.

          Sirius, James, and Remus found they were sharing the dorm with Peter Pettigrew, the nervous-looking boy from the Sorting Ceremony, and Sturgis Podmore, who was the sandy-haired boy who'd been sorted into Gryffindor just before James. He showed no inclination of wanting to talk, and went straight to bed . . . the other boys exchanged looks of surprise, but Sirius grinned.

          "Lovely chatting with you, mate," he called across the room at Sturgis, who grunted from behind his curtains. The others laughed, getting into their own nightclothes.

          "Now this is a place I can call home," Sirius remarked, flopping onto his bed. "No family for a whole term . . ."

          "I know the feeling," said Peter. "I've got two little sisters at home." He shuddered.

          "Ah, you two shouldn't complain," Remus said fairly. "Wish I had siblings."

          "Same here," from James.

          "Feel free to help yourselves to mine," muttered Sirius. "My idiot little brother…then there's the relatives…."

          "Yeah….but you know," said James, laughing a little, "your cousin was quite good-looking - " Sirius threw a pillow at him. Remus and Peter were laughing.

          "Not as good-looking as that Lily Evans; yeah, mate, I saw you looking at her - " Sirius ducked as James lobbed the pillow back at Sirius, but missed, and hit Remus who ducked too late.

          What about that Raven Sinistra?" James said brightly, provoking Remus. "You couldn't keep your eyes off her, Remus, could you?" James got another unexpected pillow in the face from Remus.

          "wait…" said Sirius suddenly. "Where's Petey?"

          "Keeping safe!" squeaked Peter from behind his bed.

          "Wrong answer," said Sirius, grinning. He, James and Remus pelted Peter with their pillows.

          Laughing, the four of them remade their beds and got into them.

          "Hey - how's old Sturgis doing?" said Sirius, grinning again.

          "Still….sleeping," James said, amazed. "Never known anyone to be able to sleep through noise like this." He pulled the covers up to his elbows. "But you must admit - Lily Evans is quite good-looking."

          Sirius, Remus, and Peter burst into laughter.

          "Think she'd go for you, mate?" asked Sirius after he'd settled down.

          "Not a chance," said James swiftly. "I'm too good-looking for _her_." 

          "Yeah, right, James," Remus said. "Like you'd intimidate her with your eleven-year-old manliness."

          He, Sirius, and Peter burst into laughter again.

          "It could happen," said James with a smile.

::: :::

The next morning dawned very warm and very cloudy. The new term's schedules were being passed round the house tables, and first years would be starting their first wizarding classes that morning. Sirius growled at his schedule.

          "We've got about half our classes with Slytherins…."

          "But those aren't till afternoon," remarked Remus. "We've got Herbology with…Hufflepuffs first."

          As he said this, hundreds of owls came pouring into the Great Hall, delivering the day's mail to students.

          An old, tawny owl landed on James's shoulder and held out its leg for him to take the letter it was carrying. James read the letter and made a noise of exasperation.

          "My god, mum, I'm eleven, not two!" he muttered furiously. His mother had written, fretting about how he was doing all by himself. 

          Remus and Peter, too, were scanning letters from parents . . . Sirius hadn't even looked up from his breakfast when the post owls came in. He didn't seem to be expecting anything.

          Over at the Ravenclaw table, a sleek, black crow was hopping round Raven's shoulders excitedly as she poured over a good-sized roll of parchment. Once she'd finished reading, she rose from the bench and headed out of the Great Hall.

            The days' classes passed without much incident. They had Herbology with Professor Sprout, History of Magic with the only ghost teacher, Professor Binns, and Defense Against the Dark Arts with professor Winthrop.  

            After lunch were the afternoon classes: Potions with Professor Clanton, Charms with Flitwick, and Transfiguration with McGonagall.


	8. Chapter SEVEN

CHAPTER SEVEN

(A/N: Sorry about the typo for the last chapter . . . it was supposed to be labeled 'Chapter six' I'll try to sort that out; this is the REAL chapter seven . . . sorry for any confusion.)

So passed our characters' first two years at Hogwarts, with little to no consequence. James, Sirius, Remus, and Peter grew tighter in friendship, and after their first fiasco on the Hogwarts Express, became more inclined to cause havoc. 

            Raven and Lily, of course, were thick as thieves, and Saige, overcoming her bit of shyness a little, had become a very close friend.

            "_Move_ it, Mudblood - "

            Breakfast had finished, students were shuffling around the Great Hall to get to their morning classes, and someone knocked full-force into Lily's shoulder, making her fall sideways into Raven, who caught her by the arm before she fell.

            "Oi!" said Sirius, from behind the girls. He'd been walking beside Remus, James, and Peter. He had his wand out, and before she had time to react, put _wingardium leviosa_ on the girl who'd so rudely run into Lily. 

            The girl rose from the floor, and Sirius twitched his wand a little making the girl roll horizontally before him. She was snarling with rage, but Sirius paid no heed. He grinned wickedly.

            "Now Bellatrix, is that any way to treat your fellow human beings?" he said.

            "Oooo… you wait'ill I get my hands on you - " she roared trying to snatch at him, but Sirius kept his distance, still grinning.

            "What - so you can duel me the _Muggle_ way?" he crowed at her. He lowered her a bit with his wand, so she was a foot from the floor and jerked the tip of it upward, lifting the charm.

            Bellatrix crumpled to the floor, and whipped round, her wand in hand, but another girl had rushed to her side. She had mid-back-length, straight, blonde hair the has half pulled back behind her head. Apart from her black school robes, she was clad wholly in white - even her jewelry and waist sash were made of pearl. She kneeled down and grabbed Bellatrix's arm with both her hands and helped her to her feet. 

Bellatrix was almost foaming at the mouth. She was prepared to attack Sirius (who looked remarkably calm) but was restrained by the girl who'd helped her up.

            "Get _off_ me, Narcissa!" Bellatrix growled, still clawing at Sirius. A wiry, black-haired boy had come to Bellatrix's other side and he helped Narcissa pull her back into their crowd of Slytherin sixth-years, but Sirius called after her,

            "Not even going to apologize to Lils?"

            Bellatrix was outraged.

            "_What?_ _Apologize?_ To that foul little - "

            " - What on _earth_ is going on here?" said the both irritated and shocked voice of Professor McGonagall. "Black, you haven't even gotten through your first class of the day, and you're already causing disturbances! Ten points from Gryffindor!" She directed this at Sirius, then turned to Bellatrix. "And ten points from Slytherin, Miss Black. Such behavior won't be tolerated, now get to class! All of you!" she barked, and stood rooted to the spot, glaring, until each student had left the hall.

            Once safely outside, James muttered, "Close call . . . it could've been loads more…" to Sirius, who shrugged.

            "That was actually rather good, for McGonagall . . . usually all you hear is _'fifty points from Gryffindor!_'" The boys laughed. Sirius then felt a tiny poke in his shoulder. He turned to see Lily, standing beside Raven and Saige.

            "Thanks," she said to him, "for sticking up for me."

            "Aaah," Sirius replied, "not sweat, Weed, literally. I didn't do nearly as much damage as I could've."

            Lily pursed her lips, but couldn't suppress the tiny smirk forming in them. 

            "Well, thanks anyway."

            She left with Raven and Saige beside her. 

A/n: more on the way! I just figured this an okay stopping poin…, I know it's short L  But there's more coming!!! 

_"Weed" was something my little sis came up with; Sirius has nicknames for the girls. Raven's 'Crow' Saige is 'Herb' and Lily's 'Weed' Just…so there's… no confusion lol._


	9. Chapter EIGHT

CHAPTER EIGHT: 

            "How's it she'll talk to you, but not me?" asked James with a bite of resentment, as he, Sirius, Remus, and Peter made their way to the greenhouses.

            "Who - Weed?" Animal magnetism, mate," replied Sirius casually. "Girls love me."

            James and Remus snorted.

            "It's true!" Said Sirius, offended. "Where else would I be getting all these sidelong looks from?"

            "They're not looking at you, mate. It's Remus they want." James said, laughing. "Apparently, they think he's _sweet_." 

            The boys mimed turning away and vomiting into the ground.

            "Evidently, they find Peter adorable, Sirius hot, and me, a jerk," said James dismissively.

            "Where'd they come up with that?" Remus grinned. "Surely you're not _that_ disagreeable."

            "They have spies, I think," said James, frowning. "Girls are just one big secret sisterhood or something. I'll bet anything Evans is giving them the goods on me. She hates me."

**::: ::: :::**

            Remus felt very hollow inside. Perhaps it was because he'd eaten so little that day…but then, the coming of each full moon always seemed to put a stopper on his appetite. He was just barely picking at his dinner, wondering what excuse he'd use to escape his friends. 

            Maybe he'd tell them McGonagall needed to see him about…something…no, that wouldn't do - why would that take all night and a good portion of the next day? He could pretend to be ill…that'd worked the last, oh, five or six times he'd used it…

            His empty stomach couldn't be the only thing that was causing that strange, empty beating of his heart, now. This was a different feeling…it was mingling with his anxiousness. This was a need of affection. 

            Remus lifted his eyes towards the Ravenclaw table. He scanned it for Raven. Perhaps he'd get a chance to talk to her before dinner was over…

            He found her seated almost directly opposite him, had she been at the Gryffindor table. She looked as pretty as ever she was, with an elbow on the table, her fingers curled and pressed into her cheeks. She was smiling, talking to her brown-haired friend, Saige. Remus found himself wishing he was there with Raven, able to listen to her calm, gentle voice, before a pair of dripping, yellow fangs ripped out of the depths of his thoughts, snapping and growling - 

            Remus jerked painfully out of his doze.

            "You all right, mate?"

            Sirius's voice brought Remus back to earth. Sirius, James and Peter were watching him with distinct concern.

            "You don't look so good, Remus," said Peter, who was opposite him.

            "Yeah…I don't feel so good either," he replied, still rather unfocused. Maybe this was a good time to leave. "I think I'll head up to the Hospital Wing…" He stood and swung his back over his shoulder.

            "D'you need a hand?" James asked, still looking worried. Remus pulled a smile.

            "Nah," he said, "I think I can find it by myself. See you."

            He walked from the Great Hall, but broke into a run once outside.

**::: ::: :::**

            "You know, I worry about him sometimes," said James. "You realize this is the third time he's run off like that this year?"

            "Once a month," Peter remarked, going back to his food. Sirius looked thoughtful.

            "I've an idea," said he, and without another word, rose from the table and made to leave the hall.

            "Oi!" called James, getting up as well. "Wait up!"

            James ran after Sirius with Peter close at tail. They bolted up the marble staircase and onward into the library. Sirius had charged straight to one of the last rows of books and disappeared behind it, with James sand Peter behind him.

            At the "W" section, Sirius began scanning titles of books and pulling some out, glancing at them, then tossing them over his shoulder. James caught each of these and in turn read their covers and stacked them in Peter's arms.

            "Here we go," Sirius muttered suddenly, a book dropping open in his hands.

            "Would you mind explaining what's going on?" came Peter's voice from behind the books in his arms.

            "Pete, don't you get it?" said James, astounded. "These are all about werewolves! But Sirius - you don't really think Remus - "

            "Why not?" Sirius's eyes were lit with enthusiasm. "This'd explain everything: he's gone once a month for the past two years - on full moon - he's gone the day after (to rest up, I bet) he's always looks tired and beat - "

            "But a _werewolf_?" Peter said. "Shouldn't we make sure first?"

            "What - you mean go off an ask him?" said Sirius.

            "Well…sure," Peter said, though rather unsure himself. "What's the worst that could happen?"

**::: ::: :::**

            Remus didn't return from the Hospital Wing the next day, almost confirming Sirius's notion. Peter was still convinced they ought to confirm the theory, though the 'they' turned out to be 'Peter.'

            At nine o'clock that evening, Sirius, James and Peter decided to confront Remus.

            How d'you know he'll be there?" Peter asked uncertainly, when nine o'clock drew near.

            "Because he's Remus," replied James impatiently. "You watch; he'll be sitting where he usually is, doing all the work he missed from yesterday."

            When Sirius, James and Peter reached the library (Sirius and James beneath the invisibility cloak), they saw Remus was indeed sitting at the center of the left side table, his quill flitting across a now two-and-a-half-foot sheaf of parchment, and was surrounded by rolls of notes and textbooks, but was, to their utter dismay, accompanied by someone else. 

            Raven Sinistra, sitting opposite Remus, had a stack of books in her lap, and was reading out of an open one on the top. Remus was taking notes from her words. 

            "Damn it," muttered James, sidetracking into a row of Herbology books. He pulled himself from the cloak and whispered hurriedly, "Do either of you have any parchment with you?"

            "I do," said Peter, unfolding some from his pocket.

            "Just a scrap -" said James, taking a piece. "Thanks…" 

            He had yanked a quill from his pocket and scribbled something on the piece of parchment.

            "Okay, let's go," he said, folding the parchment in half and ducking back under the cloak. "Pete, you stay behind this row. This might be tricky…but - well, stay here, you'll see in a moment…" 

            James and Sirius hurried out under the cloak and moved directly behind Raven, who'd stopped reading to give Remus time to finish his notes. Careful to keep his hand hidden, he tossed his scrap of parchment onto her open book. 

            Raven gave a little gasp, but recovered, and flicked open the parchment, glancing behind her.

_Raven,_

_Quick - we're under the cloak so don't bother looking - we need to talk to Remus alone. Can you make up an excuse to leave? Thanks,_

_James_

            Raven almost laughed. She slipped the note into her pocket and lifted the books in her lap and set them on the table. Remus looked up and she glanced at her watch.

            "Damn," she said, thinking quickly. "Remus, I completely forgot - I was supposed to meet someone at nine fifteen - can you finish up without me?"

            "Oh - of course," Remus said. "Don't worry about it, I'll probably be here the rest of the night, anyway." 

            Raven looked at him with sympathy. 

            "Well…see you tomorrow," she said, pulling her bag over her shoulder.

            "Yeah…" said Remus, "'night."

            She left the library.

            James and Sirius were already back with Peter, and soon gave him instructions to simply make conversation with Remus if needed, then, when time's right, ask him. They would be standing near under the cloak, and would come out if Peter needed them.

            "Okay," said Peter moving from the bookshelves. He left Sirius and James and walked towards the table where Remus had continued work, pouring over an essay. 

            Remus didn't look up when Peter move din front of him, nor when he pulled out a chair and seated himself opposite Remus. 

            "Hi, Remus," he said, though perhaps a little too cautiously, for Remus's writing slowed a bit.

            "Hi, Pete…need something?" Remus asked, still writing away.

            "Well, no…no - not really…"

            "That sounds rather suspicious to me, Pete," said Remus, but he was smiling.

            "Well…it's just…we were thinking - that is - Sirius and James and me - "

            " - And _I_," Remus corrected automatically.

            "Right - we, er, couldn't help noticing your having odd sorts of engagements…every month…that happened to be on full moon."

            All the blood in Remus's face left it. He could feel his heartbeat going painfully fast…_what would he say?_ Remus couldn't think to interrupt Peter's rambling,

            "…And we think - maybe - you…you're a werewolf."

            Remus sighed. He put his quill down at last and rubbed his forehead. _Of all the things to happen…_

            "Where are they?" he asked Peter. "Sirius and James?"

            "What - d'you mean?" Peter said nervously. Remus was incredibly quick on the uptake.

            "Come off it, Pete," replied Remus quietly. "If I know those two, they're here. Tell them to come out."

            Peter didn't need to. Sirius and James had been standing behind him beneath the invisibility cloak, listening. At Remus's last words, both boys lifted the cloak from themselves and sat down on either side of Peter.

            "So?" prompted James, lightly. "Are - are you?"

            Remus nodded, and Sirius let out a whistle.

            "I was bitten when I four," Remus said with a swift glance at Madam Pince and the surrounding, empty tables. "I've been one since."


	10. Chapter NINE

CHAPITRE NEUF (sorry…_chapter nine_…)

            Raven was never used to questioning odd requests, so she'd left the library that evening sure that whatever James had up his sleeve was business between Remus and himself. Raven tried to leave it at that, but she couldn't help being curious, especially on Remus's behalf, since he was, after all, a good friend, and she'd been concerned about him lately. She'd not come up with any ideas, but was trying to figure out how he could continuously be ill once a month. Maybe she'd made an error, but t seemed like sometime each month he was absent for one reason or another.

            She slowed her procession towards the Ravenclaw common room, and stopped at the sill of one of the castle's tall, ornate windows. She gazed absently into the forbidden forest's solemn treetops. The sun had set, but the moon couldn't be seen, leaving only the orange glow of the castle windows to fall onto the grounds below.

            Raven found it tempting to leave the castle and tread the faded slopes of the grounds, but remembered it'd cost a weekend's detention if she were caught.

            Instead, she amused herself by pondering what James had to talk to Remus about… she wished it were as easy as simply asking him later, but she wasn't so sure she'd get a fully truthful response - one could never tell with James. Raven could only assume it something to do with a prank of sorts. She reasoned it'd be better to stay out of it, but her thoughts strayed back to Remus. He had approached her that day at the end of a History of Magic lesson to ask if he could copy the notes she'd taken from the day before - when he was absent. She, of course, told him could have them, but also accompanied him in the library.

            Raven was suddenly torn from her meditating when she heard the shuffling footfalls of the caretaker right on the corner, and, realizing it was past curfew, made her way back to the Ravenclaw common room.

            Saige was reading in an armchair, away from the crowd round the fire when she saw Raven come through the had let go of the banner behind her and the exit had turned back into a blank archway. 

            "Where've you been all this time?" Saige's voice wasn't irritated, but actually quite interested. Raven laughed.

            "Oh…nowhere…" she said idly. Saige's mouth fell open in mock horror.

            "You mean to come in here at nearly _ten o'clock_, and tell me you've been _nowhere_?" said Saige. "Come off it, Raven, you've been somewhere."

            "I was just in the library helping Remus catch up in his classes." Raven replied. "What?" she added at the look Saige had given her. Now it was she who laughed.

            "_What?_" Raven persisted.

            "Oh…nothing…" Saige said, in the same idle tone Raven had used. Raven was sure she'd get nothing more out of Saige, and, utterly baffled, she left to her dormitory.

::: ::: :::

            Winter was upon Hogwarts, and the first snowfall had stopped all classes taking place outdoors that day. This meant snowball wars for the younger students.

            A small group of the third years, however, had their own battle nearing an end. Saige had gotten Peter and James down, and Sirius had gotten Lily, and Raven got Remus, but at great cost to her own life, as Sirius had nearly pelted her down.

            Fallen against a snow-packed barrier, and covered in snow, Sirius advanced on her with his last snowball in his hand.

            "Sirius!" Raven cried dramatically, "Sirius, you wouldn't kill me, would you?"

            From somewhere behind Sirius, James lifted his head from where he lay and said, "don't do it, mate, it's a trick!"

            "Oh, quiet you, you're dead - " said Raven, who couldn't help laughing, and chucked a handful of snow at James, finishing him off.

            But no sooner had the snow left her hand, did Sirius drop his fistful of snow on Raven.

            "Victory!" he cried, his fist triumphantly in the air.

            "Oh, rot you, Sirius…" Raven groaned as she helped herself up, along with the rest of them, but she couldn't help laughing.

::: ::: :::

            "There's got to be a way we can help."

It was late in the afternoon on a Sunday, and Sirius, James, Remus, and Peter were to be found laying about the Gryffindor common room. Most of the snow had melted, but the grounds were still painfully cold. James had voiced a thought that's been consuming him since the discovery of Remus's lycanthropy. Sirius, Remus and Peter looked around at James.

            "Help what?" asked Peter, who was curled up in an armchair near the fire.

            "Help you, Remus," James replied, frowning a little. "You can't be having much fun being - " he lowered his voice, " - a werewolf all by yourself."

            Remus gave a disbelieving "ha" of laughter. "James, d'you want to be a werewolf too? Come on, it's risk free!" Sirius laughed.

            "I was being serious, mate!" said James

            "I know James, but there's…nothing…anyone can do for this sort of problem."

            "No," said James, again, with a thoughtful frown, "there must be a way."

            "Well…" Sirius began, thinking. "Werewolves are only a danger to humans…so…what if we - "

            " - Could turn into animals?" said Peter, rather uncertainly.

            "Exactly!" said Sirius sitting up. "We could become Animagi."

            "You know how difficult that'd be?" Remus said uneasily. "Not to mention dangerous."

            "Well, we can research it a bit more," reasoned James simply. "Sirius, I think you're onto something."

::: ::: :::

::: I'm so sorry for the long haul for lack of updates…school's taken up most of my time, but I'm mostly to blame for neglecting Harry Potter for the past few months - but no longer! I've picked up the series again and am not only bursting with inspiration for this fanfiction, but I'm drawing more Harry Potter fanart, so I'll be updating my website as well. Stay tuned, any of my upcoming free time is spent on this!!! :::


	11. Chapter TEN

Chapter TEN

            Christmas never was too big a deal for Sirius. In fact, before Hogwarts, he positively hated the holiday, as it meant family get-togethers for the Blacks, and if ever there was anything Sirius loathed, it was his family.

            The Blacks had prided their purity of blood for more generations than could be counted. Most likely into the Gothic Era itself - or even further back.

            Sirius could not stand his family's pureblood mania…how they insisted that being a Black made one better than everyone else.

            Because of this, Sirius always remained at school for the Christmas and Easter holidays, and was why he was to be found early one morning into the Christmas break at Gryffindor's house table. Alone. Thinking about his God-awful parents…his wretched little brother…his cruel, hateful cousins, aunts, uncles, grandparents…none of whom would ever think twice about Sirius. Not that this bothered him at all, of course, he assured himself. 

            So lost in his thoughts was he, that he didn't notice the door to the Great Hall opening, closing, nor the light footsteps of Raven, coming up behind him. She laid her hand on his shoulder, making Sirius start and look round over his shoulder at her.

            "Oh," he said, the tone lost from his voice. "Morning, Crow." He reached his arm around her waist and hugged her. Raven swung her leg over the bench and seated herself next to him. 

            "Everything alright, Sirius?" she asked, reaching out and rubbing his back. 

            "Yeah," he said with more confidence, now that he could take his mind off his meditations. "I just woke up a bit too early this morning, that's all."

            "Ah," came her reply. She helped herself to the food that was appearing on the table before her and added, "D'you know where Remus was yesterday? Was he taken ill again?"

            Sirius bit his tongue. He knew, of course, he couldn't tell Raven where Remus really _had_ been…

            "Yeah he got sick during the night and left for the Hospital Wing. Stayed there all day and…haven't seen him since."

            Raven looked concerned. "Poor dear," she said sympathetically. "And he doesn't really look the sickly type…I hope he gets better soon."

::: ::: :::

Sorry for the short chapter…I just couldn't think of anything to add; it felt like a good enough stopping point, though, to end it early. More coming soon!!!


	12. Chapter ELEVEN

CHAPTER ELEVEN

_Ugg…so sorry for the serious FanFic neglect. My life is unfolding, and there just wasn't time. Now, however, there is, and for my own pure enjoyment, I'm updating again, and hopefully regularly. Onward!_

Sirius and James wasted no time in their quest to become Animagi for Remus. Determined to not let their friend down, spare lengths of time were spent in the library researching, or brushing up on Transfiguration so as to perfect the necessary method. Peter helped when he could, but they all knew there just wasn't getting around the fact that Peter wasn't quite up to par in his magical abilities, and needed all the help he could get from Sirius, James and Remus.

Over the course of the next few weeks, James and Sirius were certain that they had the incantation down, and all that was left was the final test, and of course, making sure Peter wouldn't hurt himself in the attempt.

Winter coming to a close, Spring crept in, and with it, the teacher's obsession with getting their students ready for examination.

"A two-foot essay on _gillyweed_?" exclaimed James one day after being released from a Herbology lesson, to Sirius, Remus and Peter. "She's insane! How the hell are we going to come up with two feet of information on a slimy ball of rat tails?"

"Make it up? I dunno," Sirius replied casually. "Mate, you can't let this sort of end-of-term bull get to you, we just have to make it so we please the teachers and we're good. We know all this stuff." James sighed.

"I know but it's just more work that I don't want to do," he said resignedly as the four of them set off back toward the castle. "You know… time better spent on...oh…say… becoming Animagi or something…"

"We're close enough now, though," Sirius pointed out. "Just need to get old Petey here on the right track and we'll be good to go."

Raven was crouched at the bottom of the spiral staircase when Sirius, James, Remus and Peter all entered the castle. She was helping Lily gather her fallen books, quills, and make-up that were scattered around their feet.

"Thanks, Raven…" Lily said in an exasperated voice as she repaired her bag with a flick of her wand.

"Ah, no problem, Lil," replied Raven. She was angry that Bellatrix was toying with the Muggle-borns still, but had refrained from retaliating with a couple of good hexes because a fight right before class would've been messy to clean up, plus, Lily hated confrontations with the Slytherins.

Raven turned and glanced at the four new figures approaching from the doorway and recognized them all at once. She straightened herself up as James looked down at the mess and asked what they was going on.

"Oh it was just more Slytherin run-ins, James," Lily said idly, using magic to pick up the rest of her things, "nothing you would be interested in. We took care of it."

James raised his eyebrows.

"You _'took care of it'_?" he said in disbelief.

"That's right," Lily said with placid superiority. "I know that's hard for you to understand, but we know more efficient ways to handle our differences other than just cursing people." She turned on her heel and stalked off up the marble staircase.

James' expression was one of such disbelief and confusion that it made Remus, Raven and Sirius burst out laughing.

"Listen James," Raven said, "I know you like Lily and all, but you're going about it the _wrong_ way."

"Yeah and furthermore, she utterly detests me," said James dully.

"Well, it wouldn't hurt you to actually be nice instead of so arrogant sometimes…" Raven said gently. James frowned.

"I'm _not_ arrogant," he said resolutely. Raven sighed, "Right…" and turned to follow Lily up the stairs to Transfiguration. Sirius, James, Remus and Peter followed, though a little slower behind her.

"I'm not arrogant, am I?" James asked the other three. Remus was looking determinedly at the floor, but Sirius spoke up.

"Of course not, mate, girls say weird stuff like that all the time."


	13. Chapter TWELVE

CHAPTER TWELVE

"A word of caution for the future, Pettigrew," McGonagall was saying exasperatedly as Peter scrambled to sop up his most recent mess in Transfiguration class one day, "make absolutely _certain_ that there's no one in the surrounding fifty feet that may feel the effects of one of your _de_fective spells." She was already unhappy with the Gryffindors because of some trouble James and Sirius had caused earlier in the day with some unsuspecting First Years. "Ten points from Gryffindor, and please, let that be the last time I have to say that today at least!" she added with a significantly angry look at James and Sirius, who in turn looked neither scorned nor shamed. In their minds, of course, the First Years had had it coming. In any case, they and Remus stayed behind after class to help Peter clean up.

Peter thanked them several times on their way to the Great Hall for lunch.

"No problem, Petey," James said easily. "Let's just hope that doesn't happen tonight when we…do the thing." He said, catching himself and lowering his voice as a group of Third Year Hufflepuffs walked past them. Peter looked downcast and a little frightened at the idea of becoming Animagi in a few hours, which the other boys noticed.

"Don't worry about what happened back in class today, Pete, you're just nervous," said Sirius, ruffling up Peter's hair paternally. "Besides, me and James and Remus'll be there to help you. It'll be fine."

"I won't," Remus said with a sigh. "Full moon tonight, remember?"

"Oh yeah…"

The four of them had reached the Great Hall, taking their usual seats at the very end of the Gryffindor table, furthest from the teachers. Peter, James and Sirius all discussed their plans for that evening, while Remus's thoughts wandered off to where he was going to have to go that night… he wondered if he should leave now and head for the hospital wing or just suck it up for the rest of the school day and go after dinner. Just as the idea occurred to him and his mind began to battle between thoughts, he felt something land on his shoulder. Startled, he looked over and saw Raven squeeze into an empty bench space next to him, her hand on his shoulder for balance.

"Hey," she said, smiling kindly at him. "What's up? You look dreadful, if you'll pardon my saying so," the cute smile still on her mouth.

Remus took a second to register the words and figure out an answer, his heart pounding and color rising in his face. "Oh… no… yeah… I haven't been feeling so great…" he said so very lamely. He _always_ said the wrong words when she was around him… it was easy for him to think up interesting things to say to Raven in his mind, but saying them to her in person was so difficult. She was sympathetic though.

"I'm sorry," she said with an expression that told him she meant it. He wondered if she would stay here with him, and was answered almost immediately when, after a pause, she reached out and pulled the mince pie dish toward her and slopped some onto the plate before her. She also laid a healthy amount onto Remus's plate.

"Eat up, you, you're too peaky," she said, forking bits of pie into her mouth. Remus did the same, glad that she cared anything about him. They talked throughout lunch, their conversation being occasionally punctured with comments from Sirius or James, but Remus, so content with the company, was able to push the coming of the full moon out of his mind.

After dinner, James, Sirius and Peter left for their dormitory while Remus broke off and went to find Madam Pomfrey.

Once in their dormitory, James made sure the door was locked, Sirius pulled the curtains over the window, and Peter stood in the middle of the room, utterly terrified.

"Alright, Peter," said James, very seriously. "I think me and Sirius should help you do yours first. Is that cool with you?" Peter inclined his head jerkily. "Alright then." James looked at Sirius, who nodded. "You remember the incantation? You have to concentrate very hard on becoming an animal, Peter, and only that. Don't be nervous or any of that… just concentrate as hard as you can, point your wand at yourself and say '_Animagus_'. Think you're ready to give it a go?"

Peter took a great, deep, steadying breath before saying, "yes," and following James' steps. He lifted his wand, trembling, to his forehead, but after he said it, his hand twitched violently, and the spell shot off onto Sirius's nightstand behind him. His face screwed up and pinched with fear of pain, James and Sirius looked at each other and Sirius said, "mate, open your eyes. Spell missed you by about three inches that way," he pointed, laughing. Peter tried again after several more steadying gulps of air, and to their surprise, after he saying "_Animagus!_" It seemed for a split second that Peter had vanished. Panicking, Sirius and James dropped to the floor, rummaging in Peter's fallen clothes that were the only remnants of his presence, until James let out a yell of triumph when the head of a pudgy brown rat poked out of the neckhole of Peter's abandoned tee-shirt.

"Peter is that you?" Sirius said lifting the rat to eye level. "Change back now so we can be sure." He lowered the rat back onto the pile of clothes, and before their eyes, Peter materialized into the room and into his clothes once more. James and Sirius stood up and stepped back as Peter promptly dropped to his hands and knees, panting with victory and relief, saying, "I did it! Sirius! James! I did it! Oh my God!"

Sirius and James helped him to his feet and over to his bed where he could sit and recuperate while the other two completed the same task, enjoying immensely the outcome of James' – seeing a young stag form from a human body and tear up James' clothes that clearly weren't deer-sized, and Sirius' turning into a large black dog.

After each of them had practiced changing into and out of their respective animal forms, the three boys sat around Peter's bed marveling at the great feat they'd accomplished.

"So… this took us how many moths to figure out?" Sirius mused, laying back, hands behind his head.

"Way too long, mate," replied James mildly. "Oh well. At least it's done now, and we can – oh man!" he exclaimed jumping up suddenly, and pushing his feet into his shoes hurriedly.

"What's up with you?" Sirius said, startled, getting up as well.

"We've forgotten – Remus – " James said, distractedly rummaging around in his trunk for his invisibility cloak. Peter and Sirius, realizing, jumped up as well and joined James under the invisibility cloak and the three of them left for the forbidden forest.


End file.
